Gray Wolf, Yellowstone
My Favorite Wolf
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Coyote in the Ranching Area of Point Reyes National Seashore.
This coyote is standing in a ranch pasture at Point Reyes National Seashore. Between now and July 14, the Park Service is going to decide which of six alternatives to adopt for management of 28,000 acres of land owned by the Park Service/United States at Point Reyes National Seashore and the adjacent Golden Gate NRA and dedicated for decades to private ranching. The preferred alternative is to expand the ranching, especially for 18 of the 24 ranching families who live on park land with their families and employees – at subsidized rents no less. Life is going to get a lot more complicated then for the coyotes, bobcats, and the other mammalian and avian predators that live there.
The preferred alternative will provide, among other things, that each of the 18 occupied cattle ranches can also have up to 50 sheep with their lambs or 70 goats with their kids, plus 500 free-roaming chickens which will be in the pastures during the day and in mobile coops at night. Now, the ranchers can only have beef and dairy cows, which are way too big for any Point Reyes predator to bother. These small domestic animals will be protected by livestock guardian dogs which are capable of killing coyotes and the other predators.
The leases will provide that ranchers can’t kill or harm predators. However, the leases also provide that where predation occurs, the rancher can report it to the Park Service and the Park Service will decide what action to take. If NPS says “no” to killing, what’s a rancher to do? Well, there’s the old “3S’s” maxim – shoot, shovel and shut up.
And you thought national park units were established for the protection and preservation of nature, including wildlife. Guess again. What predominates in the National Park Service thinking is maximizing tourism (especially for concessioners) and emphasizing viewsheds for those tourists. What is living in those viewsheds has never been on the Park Service’s radar. Most former Park Service employees will tell you this or, if you don’t know one, read this book by a retired NPS employee, “Preserving Nature in the National Parks” by Richard Sellars.
Western Bluebird; Sonoma County, California
Hungry Bluebird
When I decided to publish this photo, it immediately reminded me of a fellow by the name of Michael L. Smith who I knew when I lived in the D.C. area. We were part of a wildlife photography club that met each month at a local Audubon Society building in the Maryland suburbs. Michael became very wealthy from a single image he took of a male Eastern Bluebird that looked like it was scowling or angry. As luck would have it, Michael sold over 116,000 copies of that photo. That in itself may be a record. Here is a link to Michael’s story.
The bluebird in my photo doesn’t look angry so much as impatient. When this male and his mate used a nest box in our backyard I started feeding them mealworms which, as bluebird lovers know, is a good way to attract bluebirds. I think in this photo he was getting tired of waiting for me to put some mealworms in the feeder.
Bull Tule Elk; Point Reyes National Seashore
Bull Elk Lying in an Early-Growth Silage Field
Some ranchers who lease ranch lands from the National Park Service at Point Reyes National Seashore are allowed to grow non-native plants to feed to their cattle. The plants are mowed when still green in late April and May. Aside from the fact that this silage growing involves the annual introduction of non-native plants into the national seashore, some ground-nesting and near-ground nesting birds and their nestlings are chopped up during mowing. Also, female deer give birth to and hide their fawns in silage fields. The fawns are also chopped up during mowing. Why the Park Service supports ranching on NPS-owned lands involving over 5,500 cows, let alone silage growing with its annual killing of wildlife, is beyond me.
Another Bluebird Day
Male Western Bluebird
Western Bluebirds Fledge
“I’m Outta Here”!
They’re gone, but remain nearby. The parents still return morning, noon and night for mealworms. I don’t know how long that will last, but I understand the parents sometimes have a second brood. We’ll see. It was fun while it lasted.
Western Bluebird Nestling
They Are Getting Big.
